At the end of 2023, CNX Software covered the SONOFF iPlug S60 Wi-Fi Smart Plug, the first model out of the S60 series. Recently, SONOFF has released a Zigbee version, and the company’s sent us a review sample of the SONOFF iPlug S60 (S60ZBTPF).
The S60ZBTPF is the successor of SONOFF S31 ZB (2019) and SONOFF S40ZBTPB Lite (2021), and adds energy monitoring capability, making it the first Zigbee smart plug from SONOFF with a power meter function. It also works as a Zigbee Router to extend your Zigbee network coverage at home.
SONOFF iPlug S60 Zigbee unboxing
Inside the box, you’ll find just the smart plug itself and a quick guide manual. The unit we received is a Type E/F plug. As of the time of this review, only two versions are available on the market. That’s Type E/F for Europe and Type G for the UK. We believe other types should be available too in the future.
Besides the prong shapes, the main difference between Type E/F and Type G is the maximum supported load. Type E/F supports up to 16A, and Type G supports only 13A.
S60ZBTPF has a tiny physical button for turning the plug on/off and for resetting (press and hold for 5 seconds). There’s also a small blue LED to indicate status.
We couldn’t open it to inspect the inside as usual due to the tightly sealed construction. According to SONOFF, it uses the TLSR8656 chip from Telink Semiconductor Shanghai. Since it doesn’t use the popular ESP32 series, flashing it with third-party firmware is not currently possible.
In most cases, Zigbee devices may not require custom firmware flashing because they can be added directly to major smart home platforms via the Zigbee 3.0 protocol and operate locally.
Zigbee Hub Requirements
This is a Zigbee device, so it requires a Zigbee hub for communication. SONOFF recommends the following hubs.
- With eWeLink: ZBBridge-P, NSPanel Pro, iHost, ZBBridge-U (latest firmware).
- With Home Assistant: SONOFF ZB USB Dongle Plus P/E.
- Amazon Gateway models: Echo Plus (2nd Gen), Echo (4th Gen), Echo Show (2nd Gen).
- SmartThings Gateway: SmartThings Hub V3.
S60ZBTPF key features and specifications
The S60ZBTPF comes with all the standard features of SONOFF Smart Plugs
- Overload Protection (OPS)
- Scenes support
- Scheduled on/off
- Timer
- Inching (Auto On/Auto Off delay)
- Built-in Zigbee Repeater functionality
- Voice control via Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa
This model also adds energy monitoring to view real-time and historical power consumption data.
Specifications
- MCU – Telink TLSR8656 32-bit RISC MCU with Zigbee/RF4CE, 64KB SRAM, 512KB flash as found in the SONOFF SNZB-02LD and SNZB-02WD smart thermometers
- S60ZBTPF
- Plug Type – Type E/F (EU)
- Input – 250V, 50/60Hz, up to 16A
- Max load – 4,000 Watts
- Dimensions – 61.5 x 50 x 50 mm
- Weight – 79 grams
- S60ZBTPG
- Plug Type – Type G (UK)
- Input – 250V, 50/60Hz, up to 13A
- Max load – 3,250 Watts
- Dimensions – 58 x 58 x 42 mm
- Weight – 86 grams
- Wireless – Zigbee 3.0
- Safety
- Overload protection, short circuit protection, lightning surge protection, and power surge protection.
- Recommendation – Install a Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB) or a Residual Current Operated Circuit Breaker (RCBO) with an electrical rating of 13A or 16A for the smart plug socket.
- Material – PC V0 (white)
- Standby power consumption – Under 1 Watt
- Temperature Range – -10 to +40°C
- Humidity – 5% to 95% RH, non-condensing
- Certifications – CE/RoHS
- Applicable Place – Indoor
Review of the SONOFF iPlug S60 Zigbee with eWeLink
We started the review by testing the SONOFF iPlug S60 Zigbee (S60ZBTPF) smart plug with the eWeLink app (version v5.15 or later) first. Adding the device works just like with other SONOFF Zigbee devices: you need to have a Zigbee hub in the system, then press and hold the button for 5 seconds to enter pairing mode, as shown in the image below.
We quickly walked through the interface to see what new features are available and found that the Threshold Setting feature now allows you to set a minimum voltage. This means the smart plug will cut off power if the voltage drops below the set threshold — ideal for homes with frequent voltage drops, as it helps protect electrical appliances (e.g., refrigerators) from potential damage. The same applies to maximum voltage, as well as power and current limits.
Additionally, we found that push notifications can now alert you when energy usage exceeds the defined limit, whether daily or monthly. That’s pretty easy for those who want to manage energy consumption.
Other existing features remain, such as Inching and Power-on State.
When looking into the energy monitoring details (as shown in the image below), the smart plug provides real-time reporting as well as historical data in the form of daily, monthly, and yearly graphs. You can also download the energy usage statistics for record-keeping if needed.
Next, we tried creating a Scene (Automation) and found that the S60ZBTPF now supports using energy data as triggers. In the example Scene below, if the energy used on a given day exceeds 5 kWh, we can receive a notification or switch off the device. This is a new and welcome feature for eWeLink users.
Unfortunately, time-based conditions can’t yet be added to the Scene triggers, which limits the use case. For example, if the power usage stays below 5W for more than 5 minutes, it could mean the appliance stops working (e.g., a washing machine), then the scene could switch off the smart plug and send a notification to the user. Alternatively, if the power usage of a water pump is above 200W for over 1 hour, it could mean something is wrong (e.g., water may be leaking), then the scene can turn the switch of the water pump off for safety.
Review of the S60ZBTPF Zigbee smart plug with Home Assistant
Next, we tested the S60ZBTPF with Home Assistant version 2025.5.3 and the Zigbee2MQTT (Z2M) integration (v2.4 at least). This setup integrates the device directly without going through eWeLink and works locally.
The test system used a Raspberry Pi 4 with a SONOFF Zigbee USB Dongle Plus (E). All entities we saw in the eWeLink app are available in the dashboard.
This proves that SONOFF has done a great job, ensuring that Home Assistant users get feature parity with eWeLink users.
We also tested it with the ZHA integration and found that not all entities are available. Only the current values for voltage, current, power, and energy are present. As for settings, we only found the Startup Behaviour option (Power On State).
Conclusion
After using the SONOFF S60ZBTPF for a few days, we believe it offers all the essential features you’d expect from a Zigbee smart plug. In addition to the new energy monitoring capability, it still retains the Zigbee repeater function.
Overall, it’s a well-rounded device for eWeLink users, especially with the new ability to use energy data as a condition in Scenes as well as create push notifications about energy usage.
For Home Assistant users, S60ZBTPF is a very capable smart plug. Highlights are energy monitoring and Zigbee repeater support. However, it’s best used with the Zigbee2MQTT integration, which exposes all entities and matches the features available in eWeLink, while the ZHA integration lacks several key features, and fewer entities are exposed.
We’d like to thank SONOFF for sending the iPlug S30 Zigbee (S60ZBTPF) smart plug for review. It can be purchased for $13.50 on the ITEAD store, and as usual, you can get 10% off with the coupon code CNXSOFTSONOFF.
Computer Engineering who previously worked with multinational IT company, rich experience in IT infrastructure, has a passion on Internet Of Thing i.e., Smart Home, Smart Farm as well as interested on Sustainability such as renewable energy, organic farming
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IKEA’s new-ish Inspelning is the same price (including VAT in Europe) and does power monitoring as well, making this a tough sell imho.
I had the same reasoning as you. But, someone might go for these if they live very far away from an Ikea.
Also, the Ikea one is certified from TÜV Rheinland. While I’m not familiar with these guys, it’s still one more certification of compliance the Sonoff doesn’t have.
At equal or close to same price, I’d go with the Ikea one any day, unless I need the few hundreds more watts of max load.
Also, Ikea provides their OTA firmwares publicly, which makes it convenient in Z2M.
Last time I bought a Sonoff Zigbee device (SNZB-02 temperature/humidity sensor), I got stuck with an unreliable device I had to manually flash with a custom firmware. Maybe things have changed?
This S60ZBTPF has OTA functionality as well. SNZB-02 is very old, it was replaced by SNDZB-02P, 02WD, 02LD which is way much better in term of reliability and battery life. We have covered it here https://www.cnx-software.com/2023/08/06/sonoff-snzb-01p-snzb-02p-review-zigbee-wireless-switch-and-temperature-humidity-sensor-tested-with-home-assistant/
From personal experience. Reliability and support track record of Sonoff Zigbee devices is just subpar compared to Ikea’s.
Even if a sensor is ‘old’, glaring connectivity and reliability issues should have been addressed at some point and they never were. I’ve had issues day one with Sonoff zigbee devices.
Even if the S60ZBTPF has OTA capabilities, we still need ITead to actually do something with it. Which to my knowledge, no end device has ever got one.
Ikea devices aren’t perfect but at least, there are supported and fixed eventually.
Totally agree on their Zigbee device gen1 (not ZB 3.0), they are not reliable. Things have been changed since couple years ago when they rolled out the new generation. You might want to give a try. Personally I have done transition and so far so good for the result.
It’s not sold in IKEA Thailand for some reason, or at least it’s not listed on IKEA Thailand’s website.
Could be because Thailand has its own power plugs? Could also be a certification thing.
The IKEA Inspelning appears to come in EU, UK, ANZ, Swiss, Japanese and US versions. It’s not available in Taiwan or Hong Kong either.
I recently got one and the power monitoring is a lot better than on my generic WiFi plug.
Wish they also made an outdoor variant with at least IP44 classing as there are less choices for outdoors.
I hope they do. The still missing the outdoor pieces i.e., smart plug, camera
Idle power consumption could have been lower, but I like sonoff.
I tried Sonoff devices for a couple of years and threw them all out. My experience is that Sonoff is junk, unreliable, poorly made and limited longevity.
I wouldn’t use any even if paid.
They are just not competitive anymore.
After deciding to burn the bridge with the early “cloud free” and open source users, their products lost most of the DIY appeal.
But for someone okay with proprietary crap, there are cheaper options.
I’ve dealt with this “We couldn’t open it” plug design before, back when it needed a really sharp knife to open, then a beefy soldering iron to get to the ESP32 chip, just because Sonoff intentionally blocked OTA flashing. Now with this one using a chip that’s unlikely to be covered by popular IoT projects, there’s less point in prying, although this design can conveniently hide bad build/component quality.
“Standby power consumption – Under 1 Watt” also doesn’t tell enough if it’s any better than the cheaper plugs getting hot to the touch just from driving a relay.
In this case it can be argued that Zigbee working locally is the saving grace, but I don’t think that’s enough in the age where good devices are covered by projects like ESPHome and Tasmota, and similarly bad devices are sold significantly cheaper than this.
When you claim that it works locally, I’d like to hear “I unplugged the router from the internet provider and tested local operation, which was successful.” Otherwise do you really know whether it’s operating locally?
With Home Assistant (local server), this Zigbee plug still work flawlessly even internet is cut off. While for eWelink, it’s cloud based architecture, hence, internet is needed in most of the case.